I hope you don’t mind, but I wanted to show you my new homemade underwear. I have been collecting pretty elastic trims from Mokuba in anticipation of creating a new collection of cute undies for myself. These two pairs were made using the same patterns we use in the Underwear class. They are the most comfortable underwear I own. Not only because the fit is amazing but because this organic knit bamboo is so soft and lovely.

Making these two pairs hardly depleted my trim stash, so next up I want to knock off some undies I already own and create my own patterns. Next Monday I hope to schedule in a whole day just devoted to this project.

Amy of Angry Chicken is all about making her own underwear too, so I’m not the only one!

I was tagged by Constança to show my desk, which also happens to be my dining room table. At the end of each night (or so) I clear the table off until my next sewing session. This is probably best, because I would have one of those desks that was full of piles and overly messy.

I took these photos over the course of a weekend, so you can see me jump from project to project.

Photo 1 : Working on a plaid cotton quilt top for a Christmas gift, eating Coconut Liberte Yogourt and drinking hot chocolate
Photo 2 : Drafting a shoo-fly block for another new quilt using my French General jelly roll
Photo 3 : Adding the Mokuba trim to my new blue tunic
Photo 4 : Checking out flickr with my new Shinzi Katoh agenda and drinking hot chocolate (drinking hot chocolate seems to be mandatory when working, I am drinking some right now)

I’m usually the worst person to tag for these things, but I was determined to get my act together for this one. The three people whose desks I’d like to see are – Lauren, Ayalah & Rosalyn. You are meant to show your desk/working space as it is, without any editing or styling and then tag three more people. If anyone else out there wants to play along, just post a link here to a photo of your desk. (the messier the better!)

I hope you have a lovely weekend, friends. I’m making great progress with my holiday gift making. I won’t be able to tell you about a lot of it until after Christmas, but I’ve got a few projects that should be ‘safe’ to share with you.

I know, I JUST posted this dress pattern. I warned you that I was going to make it again. (and again) It’s a really easy top to wear, since it’s almost like a t-shirt. It’s also really easy to sew and I didn’t want to trace out a new pattern. (lazy!) Also, I find that almost all of my real t-shirts are too short and I prefer a longer tunic length. I cleared out my drawers the other day and bagged up an entire drawer’s worth of clothing, mostly t-shirts that I never wear anymore. (FYI – new class alert for the new year = t-shirts!)

I was given some lovely soft woven cottons from India. This fabric is incredible. It is so lightweight and lovely with just the slightest sheen to it. I had just enough to make a shorter tunic version of this dress. Keeping with my resolution to use more trim, I made a special trip to Mokuba to pick up the grey blue lacey trim. Hemming with trim is actually a time-saver.

With all the unfinished projects I’ve got piled up right now, it felt great to whip up this little shirt and wear it the same week. I’m going to make another, but I promise to try out a new pattern first.

I’m so glad you like the new section on the blog! I’m excited to fill it up with lots of Japanese dress books and creations.

I’ve been holding on to this metallic linen for ages. It’s from our trip to New York last year. Sometimes I tend to spend a lot of time waiting for things to be absolutely perfect before making a decision. That sure makes for some slow crafting.

This special fabric needed a super simple pattern that would allow it to shine. It finally dawned on me that Dress “B’ was just that. It was one of the patterns in the book that I’ve overlooked a hundred times because it was so plain.

This t-shirt style tunic called for a bit of trim, which I picked out at Mokuba. The wide linen-coloured eyelet trim has a nice soft contrast to the shiny blue. I chose to simply trim the sleeves and hem, but not the neck. I really love the neckline on this dress, it is so wide and open.

The dress was very easy to sew. You’ll notice that my version is much shorter than the book’s and I did not make the slip that they show with it. As is usually the case, there is no zipper or closure of any kind. The neckline does have a facing, which I understitched to give it a clean finish. I also trimmed a bit off the sides to give it a slimmer silhouette.

I like this dress a lot. I made it for my birthday this year, nothing like a little sparkly linen to celebrate a special occasion. I would definitely like to make this pattern again in another variation, perhaps a nice wool for winter?

Since the underwear class, I’ve been obsessively thinking about making more. Alas, I am not ‘allowed’ to spend time making underwear right now. There are too many other projects & tasks that rank higher priority and need completing before starting something new. Plus, I would really like to give myself an entire day to draft up some new patterns and make a few more pairs from the patterns we used in class. I still can’t believe how comfortable and cute they are.

While running some errands today, I did allow myself to stop at Mokuba (aka. ribbon & trim heaven) and indulge in some lovely trims for my future underwear making. It took a lot of willpower to stop from buying much more. That store is dangerously enticing. I left there wanting to trim absolutely everything I make from now on.

I’m also allowed to do ‘research’, so have been surfing around Agent Provocateur, Strumpet and Pink and Stella McCartney for inspiration.